Search - Michel Petrucciani :: Oracle's Destiny

A Masterpiece of a Recording.

NDBx | New York, NY United States | 11/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the truly great pianists who left us much too soon presents us with a solo piano recording of stark beauty, elegance, romanticism and introspection. The composition is always kept in mind here. No runaway fleet fingered flurries here. Don't get me wrong, Michel is a pianistic virtuoso but one with impeccable judgement.



He gives each piece exactly what it needs. There a wonderful use of space here. This recording is a tribute to Bill Evans and Bill would be proud. This is one of those recordings that you listen to from beginning to end with no skipped tracks.



I was amazed to find out that a recording of such maturity could be done by someone who was just 19 years old at the time. This is a very emotionally direct recording. The songs are storylike in that they develop and the segues are seamless and perfect. This is one of the best solo piano recordings in quite some time."

Coming of Age

Fly By Light | Atlanta, Georgia | 04/04/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Michel Petrucciani developed into a fine musician. His trademark mix of elegance and power is evident on this early album. However, his tender age is also apparent. It's ok to admire Bill Evans - any jazz pianist worth his salt has knows of his work. However, Pettruciani's early obsession with Evans creeps me out.



It's certainly cool that Evans jokingly suggested the simpler nickname "Mike Pee" for him, and it's not a bad name for a song. Almagame is stuffed with musical quotes from jazz greats including Evans. So far, so good, but then things get weird.



On one track, Petrucciani borrows a technique that Evans pioneered on the grammy-winning Conversations with Myself (and revisited twice): overdubbed solo piano. One can argue whether this was too much hero worship, but my complaint goes beyond this album. Petrucciani went on to record his own "Live at the Village Vanguard" album, and recorded with numerous Evans bandmates including Eddie Gomez, Gary Peacock and guitarist Jim Hall. Somewhere along the way, the image of musician gives way to the image of a stalker in my mind.



Later in his career, Petrucciani developed his own musical persona and became a formidable musician. His gushing hero worship on this album was probably just be a boy's natural fascination. I'd be more forgiving if he had moved on to other things after one album, but it was just the beginning of a distracting pattern. In my opinion, Petrucciani did not shine his brightest until he broke that pattern and became his own man."